Competition between domestic and foreign carmakers is heating in the commercial vehicle sector as well.
Since the European emission standard or Euro6 was introduced to Korea at the beginning of this year, car makers have been launching new models that comply with stricter CO2 emission rules.
Volvo Truck is launching new models across its range in Korea on March 5 that meet the new regulations, including the popular FH and FMX trucks.
Daimler Truck will unveil a new range of Euro6-compliant trucks on Thursday.
Shanghai-based Sunlong Bus will release new buses in April. Sunlong sold over 400 25-seater Duego buses in Korea last year and aims at over 1,000 this year.
Among Korean firms, Hyundai decided to launch a 15-seater minibus tentatively named H350 in June, whose size is somewhere between a 12-seater minivan and a 25-seater bus.
It plans to invest W2 trillion (US$1=W1,105) in its Jeonju plant by 2020 to increase commercial vehicle production capacity from 65,000 units to 100,000 a year.